Transplanted Kenyan, Lakeland woman top field
A former high-school cheerleader and a new Orlando resident by way of Kenya on Saturday felt the joy of running off with top honors for the first time in the OUC Orlando Half Marathon.
And they came to do it.
Competing in a field that included 2,680 finishers who started the 13.1-mile race on a new course in downtown Orlando, Dominic Korir won the men’s title on a cool, overcast morning in 1 hour, 4 minutes, 48 seconds. Loni Smith of Lakeland captured the women’s championship (1:21:39).
Smith, 37, trailed almost the entire race before overtaking from behind Erica Weitz, a former UCF runner, at the 12-mile mark on South Street. Smith won a sprint to the finish with Weitz, prevailing by four seconds.
“I like to go out conservative and try to pick it up naturally,” said Smith, who was born and raised in Lakeland and still resides in the Polk County city. “I just try to leave it all out there. I was surprised I had more in the tank.”
Smith, a former cheerleader at Lake Gibson High School, has been doing road races since 2009. She ran track for only a year in high school but has really come into her own as an adult runner.
In clocking a 1:21, Smith recorded her best time of 2018. She ran a 1:25 in winning the Red Ribbon Half Marathon November.
“This was a training run for me,” said Smith, who attended Florida Southern College. “I want to run the Disney Marathon [in January].”
Korir won the OUC Orlando Half Marathon in his first try. He rallied to oust race favorite Ty McCormack, a former All-American from Auburn University.
McCormack, a Gainesville, Ga., native who ran at Clemson before heading to Auburn, led after five kilometers and 10 kilometers and finished in 1:07:16. Korir overtook him at the 15K mark and held on.
“The course was perfect,” Korir said. “I was looking for a good effort. I feel good.” in Lakeland in
McCormack has lived Orlando for three years.
“I wanted to try to get the win, but Dominic is a really good runner,” McCormack said. “I was just focusing on doing my best.”
McCormack said he hasn’t run much since competing in the Chicago Marathon in October. Saturday’s race was his longest since then.
The tall, rangy runner said he ran a 5K race in Texas on Thursday before flying back to Orlando for the half marathon. McCormack said the short rest might have affected him, and he is ready to take time off before running again.
McCormack, who was competing in his last race of the year, has won the Track Shack Series the past three years. in 42ND OUC ORLANDO HALF MARATHON Start, finish at Lake Eola
Top men’s finishers Top women’s finishers